Colt Defender

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SereneNomad

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I have locally located 3 Defenders in 9mm, .40 & .45. Having not shot a .40/.45 and being a new shooter with most of my experiance around revolvers (.357/.38 spec.) besides my Mod 41. Trying to decide on which of the 3 calibers to go with? recoil? accuracy? All are priced about the same. Leary the .45 or even the .40 may make for an unpleasant experiance in such a small pistol. CCW will be the primary purpose.
Any advice greatly appreciated!
 
Leary the .45 or even the .40 may make for an unpleasant experiance in such a small pistol
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No it won't. If your okay with shooting .357 mag. you'll not have issue with these. My personal preference in for .45ACP
 
.45 would be my choice also. Recoil shouldnt be any worse than a .357, and it puts a bigger hole in the target. I regularly shoot an officers model with 230 grain hardball, and it isnt bad at all. The only plus to the other calibers would be ammunition availability and price. At least in my area .45 has been difficult to find, and is a bit more expensive, but reloading practice ammo can balance these issues.
 
Any thoughts on the .40 ? Saw one thread about the harsh muzzle blast.
If only colt made one in .357 sig
 
To me, the 45 doesn't seem to have the "muzzle flip" that the 40 has. That makes a big difference in a small , lightweight gun like the Defender.
 
My experience is with the .40 Defender, which are fairly hard to come by. I would assume the .45 ACP version would be even more pronounced. My problem was with the fairly sharp lower edge of the beavertail safety. After a dozen shots or so, it would *really* start to dig into the palm of my hand. As in, break the skin.

If it were rounded over a bit, or replaced with a safety with a more "normal" engagement pad, this wouldn't be a problem. In stock form, it wasn't fun to shoot.


-Matt
 
the beavertail problemed can easily be remedied being a machinist. Is there a noticable difference in felt recoil between the .40 and the .45?
 
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My friend has a Defender. It had some issues like the guide rod breaking and jams. The guide rod was replaced from a recall. He changed the magazines to Wilson Combat and got a Wolff Spring to replace the OEM.

It is light but feisty in 45. It shoots tight groups when you get used to it. I don't care for the rubber grips, either.
 
I had one in .45. The recoil is not that bad, especially with the finger grips. I would choose one in 9mm with the short barrel however.
 
SereneNomad

You might want to consider the 9mm. version then if recoil is an issue. Ammo is cheaper allowing for more practice time and familiarity with the gun, and it's a good size for CCW. I have found that for me, recoil from a lightweight .45 is more like a strong push or shove back into my hand, while the same gun in a .40 feels somewhat snappier with a little more muzzle flip.
 
If you are going to carry a 24 oz 1911, why would you choose anything less than a .45acp? And yes, I have owned EMPs (plural). A 3" alloy 1911 is no big deal.

I am 50+ years old, about 150 lbs. and not Superman by any means.

If you want a 9mm or .40, you can find smaller/lighter (not necesssarily better/more reliable) pistols.

Shop well, choose carefully. Your life may depend upon your choice.
 
I've got some experience with all 3 calibers you listed in 1911's. I currently own at least one in every caliber.

I have 2 COLT Gold Cups. One in 40S&W and one in 45ACP. The one in 40S&W is noticeably harsher recoil wise. Much snappier. Not hurtful or unpleseant but recoil can be best described as very "noticeable". Keep in mind we are talking a 5: heavy weight target gun here. I would not like to shoot 40cal out of an officers sized gun.

I also have a COLT Officers Model in 45ACP which is about the same size as the Defender. It's not as bad on recoil as that 5" Gold Cup in 40S&W.

I also have a COLT Combat Commander in 9mm and it had practically no recoil to speak of.

I would recomend the 45 or the 9mm.
Will
 
45 for carry . I have Defender and New Agent both. But would love to have a 9mm Defender.for my collection. I have no use for the 40 I dislike the snappy recoil Bought one and 1 box ammo later was back at dealer.
 
The Defender 90 in .45 is butter smooth. Not quite as smooth as my full-size ESP, but not much different than my G19. My only issue with it is it sometimes likes to hit me in the head with ejected casings. I don't know why and it's only that one gun that does it. I still love it, though, and prefer the .45 for obvious reasons, especially with mine loaded with Ranger Type-Ts.
 
Sounds like I should stay away from the .40 cal then......my coworker, a gun smith offer to port if I chose the .40 or .45......which now making my choice even harder. Took 9mm out of the equation.
 
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WOW! Thats a pretty nice offer, to port it for you if you decide the recoil is too harsh. Something to keep in mind though, a .40 runs a good bit higher pressure, I would think the muzzle blast would be pretty harsh from one in a 3" barrel. My carry is a SA V10 Ultra Compact in .45, and the noise is just about enough that I have considered putting an unported 3.5" barrel on it to calm the noise. If porting such a short barrel is being considered, I would go with the .45, lower presure would keep the blast and noise down a bit.
 
45Fan
That was my responce to him...that it "would just increase the noise"....he explained I could do it by milling 2 .300 x .0875 slots in the slide with 2 #40 holes in the barrel adjacent to the front sight and that would substantially reduce "muzzle flip". I have been a machinist for over 20 yrs, but that would still make me nervouse. Already brainstorming about all the parts I could copy in titanium.
So far leaning towards the .45.
Thanks for the input guys....still green to all this...if only i could shoot both and then decide...for now I can only go off of advice.
 
Porting is completely unnecessary. The recoil just isn't bad. I would try it first before you had it ported and judge for yourself. .40 is "torquier" than 9MM or .45.

Get the .45. If you really want a 9MM, get an EMP. Either 9MM or .45 should be no trouble if you are used to .357. Even the .40 will be less recoil. Some folks just don't like the "torque/twist" of the .40 in some guns.
 
I agree that the recoil isn't that bad. It is more noticeable than a Commander or Government but not uncontrollable by any means. Mine was more comfortable for long sessions with the standard rubber grips, but I prefer the Esmeralda grips I put on it for carry.

If you want an even softer feeling 3" 1911 check out the STI Shadow. Mine is easier to make quick followups with than my Defender, which is partly because of the RecoilMaster guiderod they use and partly due to the STIppling (as they call it) on the front strap. the Defender has a smoth frontstrap which is a bit slick in my opinion. The rubber grips mask that though with the wrap around finger grooves.
 
I have one in .45 and like it very much. I sent it back to Colt for the recall (guide rod) and had them tune the ejector so the spent cases wouldn't hit me in the head. It's been 100% since I got it back. I agree with the others who say felt recoil is very managable and like the finger groove grips on it. Also very concealable in summer or winter.
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did they do that ejector tuning for free? I would absolutely love my Defender if it wasn't for casings to the face/head. There have probably only been 5 total so far, but it starts getting on your nerves..
 
My defender was bought used. I took it home, cleaned and lubed it and went back to the shop/range the next day to check it out. I didn't get through more than a few mags before it started jamming up. About half of the spent cases hit me in the head. The shop sent it back to Colt for the fix with a sheet of paper identifying the issues. It came back a few weeks later and was perfect. I'm not sure whether Colt did it for free or the shop stood behind the gun they sold and absorbed the cost. I still get an occassional case boinking me in the head but it's a lot better than it was. Another thought I had was that when the guide rod assembly was replaced, it was enough to make the spent cases fly higher and miss my head.
 
Now I am considering spg loaded ultra comact or kimber stainless ultra TLE II......anyone with experiance with these models?
 
SereneNomad said:
Now I am considering spg loaded ultra comact or kimber stainless ultra TLE II......anyone with experiance with these models?
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I bought a Kimber Ultra Carry II. Had trouble with the factory magazine not feeding the last round in the magazine 100%. I switched to magazines with Wilson follower & spring kits and solved the problem; subsequently shot 250 rounds without malfunction.

I would pick the stainless Ultra Carry TLE. The Ultra TLE has night sights and checkering on the front strap. Adding those features to the Defender after purchase would easily push it's price past the Ultra.

As far as recoil, I shot 375 rounds through the Ultra in one day. I can keep double taps on a 6'' circle placed 18 feet away with an average 2nd shot time of .27 second using 230 gr. ammo.
 
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